


Waiting on Each Other

by Grub2517



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Father/Daughter Bonding, HTTYD-THW AU, Self-Doubt, The dragons stay, haddock family fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29757867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grub2517/pseuds/Grub2517
Summary: A little Haddock family fluffery. A communication breakdown between father and daughter is finally resolved with an unexpected encounter.
Relationships: Dart/Zephyr Haddock, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Zephyr Haddock
Kudos: 8





	Waiting on Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> Had this idea for a while and was actually going to request someone to do it, but finally decided to write it myself.

Hiccup Honorable Haddock III walks through the forest of New Berk, heading for the affectionately named Zephyr’s Clearing. Hiccup is, for once, unsure about the subject of Dragons. Or really that’s inaccurate, more like he’s unsure of parenting with relation to dragons. You see, his daughter Zephyr is not exactly a little kid anymore, turning 12 next month. She is getting to the age where she should start dragon training… but she hasn’t expressed any real interest to do so. It’s so confusing because she acts so wonderful around them, and she surely loves Toothless and Nubless… but did she not want to bond? Hiccup hasn’t brought this up in the past because he’s extremely careful about his expectations for his daughter. With his own upbringing he knew exactly what it felt like to be suffocated by your father’s shadow, and the pain it brought to feel like you were expected to follow the same path. It would break his heart if Zephyr didn’t take to dragons like he, his mother, his wife, and her brother had, but it would tear him apart even more if she only did it to carry on the family legacy. However it will happen, he has waited long enough. Zephyr is in her clearing (as she has been a lot lately he’s noticed) and he’s going to ask her, or at least get to some consensus. He owes it to herself, and to her. 

Zephyr Haddock sits in her clearing, Dart the Night Light by her side. Zephyr is, for once, unsure of herself. Unsure of how to ask her father, about the dragon. She’s still a kid, but she _really_ wants to become a rider like the rest of her family. Her brother already said he would bond when he’s of the proper age, but how does she ask her dad to start this early? She already wasn’t supposed to be bonding with Dart until they were both older, how would her father react? She knew she was supposed to become chief one day, how would he react to her wanting to become a dragon rider instead? In an odd way, it’s almost like history repeating itself, trying to hide her affections for a dragon from her dad. She wasn’t sure of herself, of her path forward. She technically wasn’t supposed to be doing this, but they’d already gotten so _close_ , in fact she feels even closer to Dart now than she does to Toothless. That’s a thought that simultaneously excites and scares her... excites her for what’s to come, but also reminds her of the nature of this forbidden friendship. If it wasn’t such a scary prospect, she could laugh at the irony. The thoughts weigh on her mind as she snuggles close to Dart for warmth… the heartbeat and gentile purr of her companion quickly luls her to sleep. 

Hiccup steps up to the treeline, thinking about what he will say to his daughter. Even after so many years, sometimes he still feels like that awkward fifteen year old who can’t even finish a whole sentence. Maybe… yes. That’s exactly what he needs to do, not to worry and just talk. Every time he tries to think about what he will say, he just ends up stumbling on his words and talking awkwardly anyway… this is his daughter for Thor’s sake, It’ll be fine. He reaches the treeline and peers through the gap… and he freezes. Right there, just a few paces away from him, lies Zephyr _and_ the Night Light. They were both sound asleep, two little bodies cuddled together so close it was almost like they aren't two entirely different species. Just seeing them like this gives Hiccup such nostalgia… after the battle with the Red Death, when he had a particularly bad night Toothless would coddle him just like that. In an instant all of the angst and uncertainty he’s been feeling for days melts away. Just from looking at them he knows they’re close, too close for this to be a new thing, and with how often they’ve been disappearing lately, this has clearly been going on for a while. He’s not upset at all, he’s elated actually, just wondering how it took him so long to figure this out. When she wakes up, father and daughter can have a heart to heart talk and get this whole thing out in the open... for now he just sits down and muses about the implications of this development, chuckling to himself as he realizes the similarity to an all too familiar story.


End file.
